Ambassadors Tour Montana to Tout Trade Deals

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Ambassadors from five countries have launched a three-day trade tour across Montana with U.S. Sen. Max Baucus to announce export deals and promote business ties.

The ambassadors from Colombia, South Korea, Brazil, Vietnam and Australia arrived Thursday.

The group toured a road-striping business in Billings, MRL Equipment Co., where executives recently inked a $1.5 million machinery contract with a South Korean company.

Colombia Ambassador Gabriel Silva, a rancher, says his country plans to buy Montana livestock as part of a program to double the number of cattle in Colombia over the next five years.

Baucus says such deals underscore the benefits of recent trade agreements with Colombia and South Korea that eliminated import tariffs.

The ambassadors plan additional stops in Lewistown, White Sulphur Springs, Bozeman, Livingston and Yellowstone National Park.